Some Seattle Neapolitan pizzerias are blessed by Italy's pizza police
Italians take their pizza very seriously. Especially Italians from Naples, the official birthplace of pizza. Pizza fanatics in Naples say a pie must be prepared with the absolute freshest ingredients and cooked in the most traditional method. There is no cheese stuffed crust and no pizza topped with pineapple. Pizza isn't made in a hut or on a round table or by a man named Mike who lives on a mountain.
Neapolitan style pizzerias have quickly multiplied in Seattle over the past few years, and many pizza loving locals are now officially addicted to the bright San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh blobs of buffalo mozzarella and the thin, bubbly crust they've savored at popular spots like Via Tribunali and Tutta Bella.
The thing is, in order to be a real Neapolitan pizzeria, you must be certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. This is serious business. So serious, in fact, that several top association members have traveled to Seattle this week to inspect, and ideally certify, Pizzeria Pulcinella, Ristorante Picolinos, and a handful of the still-not-certified Tutta Bella and Via Tribunali locations.
Seattle boasts more Napoli-style pizzerias than any other city in the country, so it only makes sense for the VPN to host its first annual Neapolitan Pizza Forum in the Emerald City. "There are only 30 certified restaurants in the country, and ten of them are right here in Seattle," says Joe Fugere, owner of the local Tutta Bella chain, the first in Seattle to be certified.

The festivities kicked off Wednesday morning on the tippy top of the Space Needle, as the the Italians were welcomed to Seattle by a jovial gang of local pizza restaurant owners. They will spend the rest of the week inspecting the restaurants and most likely eating their weight in pizza.
So what does it take to be certified by the VPN? A lot - and it all starts with ingredients. The dough must be made from "00 flour," fresh, natural yeast and chemical free water. The dough must be worked by hand, or in a VPN approved mixer, and then shaped by hand. The pizza must be cooked in a wood fired oven with a stone floor, and the pizzas must be cooked on that floor, not on a pan of any kind. According to the regulation booklet, "Verace Pizza Napoletana" should be "soft, elastic, easy to manipulate and fold." These are just some of the rules.
Rules may seem silly for something like pizza, a comforting go-to staple beloved by nearly the entire planet. But if you've ever had a slice of authentic Napoli style pizza, fresh from the igloo shaped oven: the chewy, fire licked crust, the zing of best quality San Marzano tomatoes, the freshest basil and splotches of creamy mozzarella...Sometimes it's good to follow the rules.
Rachel Belle
www.examiner.com
Tuesday 07 July 2009

AVPN Approved Suppliers


Di Vicino Forni
Ooni
Frießinger Mühle
La Valle
Caputo
Molino Piantoni
Marana Forni
Jungle Juice
Mecnosud
Sokan
Castello di Solfagnano
Resto Italia
Dallagiovanna
International Pizza Expo
Flo.it - Woody Briketts
MIRA SUD
Izzo Forni
La Fiammante
Gargiulo
Gi.Metal
VTKFUL
Effeuno
Euroiovine
Robo - D'Amico
Cosma
Polselli
Rega - Strianese
Ponticorvo
Pagnossin
Farinera Coromina
MP Forni
Valoriani
Minas Forno
Italforni
Inpact
Matese Funghi
Solania
Manna Forni
Grassi
KBirr
Molini Fagioli
Napoli Caffè
Vitella
Agugiaro - 5 Stagioni
Marra Forni
Sunmix
Fritturista - Oleificio Zucchi
Goeldlin Collection
GLDM Food Concept
MAM Forni
Cirio
Del Prete Legnami
Spigadoro
Molino Quaglia
Revolve
Cediform
Forno Santo
Scugnizzonapoletano
Molini Bongiovanni
Ciao Pomodoro
Authentico
Denti Flours
Zanolli
Ferrara Forni
ITS
Olitalia
Hot Dry Delivery
Rossogargano
SudForni
Acunto Ovens
Perteghella
San Benedetto
Latteria Sorrentina
Molino Iaquone
Pasini
Esmach
Molino Naldoni
 
 
  • Tel/fax: +39 081 420 12 05 (Mon - Fri 10-13:30 / 15-18)
© Copyright 2024 Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana | All rights reserved
Registered Office: Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, Via Capodimonte 19a, 80131 Napoli, Italia - C.F./P.IVA: 07801000634
Organizational headquarters and training school: Via Capodimonte 19a, 80131 Napoli, Italia
Privacy Policy - Cookies Policy
Site protected by reCAPTCHA: Privacy - Terms